Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Magical Historical Fiction

The Antidote by Karen Russel

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From the afterword/Lost Land Acknowledgement by Dr. James Riding In: “The Antidote uses fantastical conceits to illuminate the holes in people’s private and collective memories, the willful omissions passed down generation to generation, and the myths that have been used by the U.S. government and White settlers to justify crimes against the citizens of Native Nations and the theft of Native lands.” And the author uses those fantastical conceits very well. The Antidote is a beautifully written, sad, interesting, and clever novel. It’s a fantastic […]

“I think there is just one kind of folks. Folks.”

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for- Atticus This is one of those books that I read at least once a year, and each time I find something new to appreciate in it. It also has the rare distinction of having one of the best and most accurate cinematic adaptions to date. (Seriously, To Kill A Mockingbird and Hogfather are the two off the top of my head you can say that of). My mother lent me her copy […]

“Separately, each cloud can block the wind. Together, we might determine its flow.”

Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

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Sisters May and Gemma Chow are working hard to keep their family afloat while their father is away being treated for tuberculosis. When they discover the body of Lulu Wong, a former classmate and rising Hollywood star on the outskirts of Chinatown, they set out to solve the mystery of her death. I’m always on the lookout for historical fiction that centers the experience of people who were marginalized during the era of the setting, because to see history through their eyes is usually completely […]

“The things your parents say and the things your husband doesn’t say become a mirror, don’t they? You see yourself as they see you, and no matter how far you come, you bring that mirror with you.”

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

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In one word: Dogged This was precisely the book I needed to read while in the clutches of a chilly and downright RUDE Midwestern spring. Spring is my least favorite of the seasons, and this year it’s earning its rank at the bottom of the list. It is April, and it is STILL cold, and I STILL have to wear a jacket, and I STILL can’t lounge in my hammock, but, real talk, these are only inconveniences.  The weather isn’t to my liking?! Oh heavens, […]

My hometown long before it was my hometown…

The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A.E. Hotchner

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“The people he was talking to, all around me, had lost everything, their houses, their jobs, their cars, I mean everything just like we did, and yet here they all were, having to live under the ramp of a bridge in dirty shacks, their bellies as empty as mine, huddled together, feeling good from listening to FDR, just like me, more of us no better of than we were when he got elected but when he says it’s all getting better we believe him, and […]

A beautiful portrait of a white outsider in 1930s Great Depression Kentucky

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

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Cussy Mary is a book woman for her tiny hill country town in rural Kentucky. She packs up books, magazines, and newspapers donated from major metropolitan cities and takes them to her patrons on her route as a part of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. She is largely well-liked and respected for the work she does and the opportunities she brings to an often ignored community through education and reading. She’s also blue. Not metaphorically sad and down. She has blue skin […]



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